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In common, I believe, with the majority of Christians, in my early years I accepted the Christian Bible as the inspired Word of God, a direct message from Deity to humanity. Later, however, a more critical approach to the Christian Scriptures revealed incredibilities and impossibilities, which both shocked and repelled me once they were seen upon serious and scholarly study of the Bible. What a difference there is between just setting in the pew and listening to sermon after sermon and becoming a serious student and scholar of the Bible; what a difference a little serious study of the Bible makes in one's life and understanding of the role of the Bible in one's Spiritual life. Finding myself unable either to ignore these barriers to traditional interpretation of the Christian Scriptures as espoused by mainline Christianity or to adopt a tolerant, uncritical accepting of the Christian Scriptures, two alternatives presented themselves. One was to discard entirely the orthodox concept of the Bible as an error-free and infallible source of Spiritual Wisdom and moral counsel but that was impossible having seen already in beginning studies that there exists such contradictions in the Bible which cannot be blamed upon a Perfect God, and the other to undertake a detailed study of the whole text to find the answer for these irregularities and contradictions in the Bible. I knew down deep in my heart that there had to be a reason but at that time in my life such understanding for these irregularities and contradictions escaped me. This latter course was chosen over 20 years ago, and in this decision I entered Seminary to follow the "call of God" upon my life.
It was in Seminary in the late 1980's that I began to see in my own personal studies outside of the classroom the reason for such contradictions in the Bible. It was during these years during Seminary in my parallel studies outside of the classroom that I began to see that many of the difficulties arising from a "literal" reading of the Christian Scriptures disappeared if portions of the Bible were regarded as allegorical and not taken as if "literal" and "historical" events. I began to see that throughout the whole of both the Old and New Testaments in the Christian Bible as well as behind my Christian doctrinal and sacerdotal forms there lies a much deep Metaphysical Spiritual Truth, a real "Gnosis" (Greek for "knowledge") of Man's origin, true being, nature, and destiny which has been basically lost to the vast majority of humanity by the devices of the early emerging Gentile Roman Church and their tragic "materialization" and "literalization" of the ancient Sacred Divine Wisdom and Sacred Scriptures which we see expressed today in our traditional interpretation of our Christian Bible which for the most part is based solely upon a "literal" and "historicized" translation of the Scriptures. I began to see over and over again that these ancient Sacred Spiritual texts which are at present thousands of years old were never written originally with the intent to be understood as if "literal" and "historical" and quickly realized that such an approach to them in my life only assured that I miss their Divine intent and meaning in my life today. Over months and years of such continued study both during and after my Pastorate I continued to be convinced that there exists a foundation or origin of my Christian religion other than that which is commonly accepted through Church tradition and the common place "literal" and "historical" approach to the Christian Scriptures. I began to awaken to and see for myself that there exists hidden or inner truths or Spiritual and Metaphysical doctrines which lie deeper than those forms, creeds, or doctrines which are associated with the term "Christian" in the popular conception which most accept and inherit as children and follow even as adults setting in today's Churches. I began to see that the whole of the Christian Bibles is at best a "pseudo-history" that is at its very core Divine Metaphysical allegories which were passed down previously from nation to nation, from culture to culture; Divine Spiritual myths and allegories that were never meant to be taken "literally" or "historically" but yet had valid meaning to the whole of humanity and not limited to but one person. I began to see over and over again as my studies advanced into other areas of study like archeology, Biblical languages, Gnosticism, the ancient Egyptian Religion, Comparative Religions, Comparative Mythology, Astro-theology, etc., that a "literal" reading of the Bible misses the rich meanings intended in the stories that we read in our Bibles. I began to be convinced over and over again in over these many years of scholarly study that the Bible is a book of "symbols" that were used by the ancients to encode esoteric Truths; Truths that were not given to the masses but only to the "select few" who were initiated into the Higher Mysteries hidden beneath the surface of these Divine Stories. Let it be said that when all the studies are done the depiction of the "life of Christ" which can be found in almost every major religion down through history and since the beginning of recorded time on this planet is at its very heart an initiatory journey of the incarnated Soul of every human being and was never meant to be limited to but one person as has been done by the pens of Rome as found in the New Testament they gave to the world since the 2nd century. This "life of Christ" is truly the "greatest story every told" especially in light that it can be found told verbatim as far back as ancient Egypt some 10,000 years B.C.E. Seeing these facts for yourself bring into serious question the "plenary" and "literal and historical interpretation" of our Bible, especially the New Testament with its "Jesus Story" with its sole "literal" and "historical" interpretation as the sole type of hermeneutic and method of interpretation applied to it by traditional Christianity. The Rabbis of Judaism have always known this and that is why they reject the Christian "Jesus Story"; the Rabbis have always known what Christianity has forgotten; namely, that all Sacred Scriptures of the world are to be seen through 4 levels of interpretation; the "historical and "literal" interpretation is only the beginning of one's understanding of the Divine Realm, it is the "milk" of the Word of God and not the "strong meat" to which we should aspire in our Soul's Spiritual progression. The "pattern" is set before us; we must drink "milk" before we are ready for "strong meat" but evolution of body, Soul and Spirit is the goal. We start out with a "literal" and "historical" approach to the "Christ Story" no different than did the ancient Egyptian Religion which started out with a "literal" and "historical" Hours as "the Krst" but like them this is not where we should finish our Spiritual evolution. We must move on to see the deeper things of God hidden beneath this "literal" and "historical" interpretation of our "Jesus Story". We must come to see that the authors of the world's Scriptures deliberately concealed beneath cleverly constructed veils of allegory and symbol Divine Truths which they discovered by direct search of the Cosmos and Nature which is body and voice of God to man. These Divine Spiritual and Metaphysical Truths concerning God, Krst/Christ, man and his True Nature were made available to the trustworthy but at the same time concealed from the profane under the purposeful veils of "literalism" and "history" as it has been done to us today. For this purpose the ancient invented a special category of literature which differs from ordinary writing in that, with some historical fact as foundation, it is largely composed of Spiritual allegories, symbols, and certain "key" words, the whole constituting a cipher by means of the Ageless Wisdom was with reasonable safeguards made available to humankind. Such I learned through exhaustive studies over many years were the origin, the nature and purpose of the Sacred language in our Bibles. These Divine Truths are once again provided to those who are of "full age" by Bet Emet Ministries and in so doing we provide the "truth-seeker" and those hungry for more than the "milk" of the Word Sunday after Sunday these higher Divine Truths which they deserve.
The historical difficulties of the Bible narratives, the want of reliable information regarding the central figure of the Gospels, the uncertainty respecting the date and authorship of the various books of the Old and New Testaments, the host of purposefully mistranslated and purposefully misquoted Hebrew Scriptures found in both the Greek Old Testament as well as the Greek New Testament when compared to the Hebrew originals, the forgery of the Hebrew Messianic Prophecies as contained in the New Testament, the obscurity of the early centuries of the Christian era, and the astonishing contradictions among the various sections of the Christian community respecting the very essentials of their faith, through all claim their authority from the same texts and records: these matters are well known to all who have passed beyond the mere Bible-class curriculum at their Church, and are seeking for more light and certainty than can be obtained from traditional Orthodox Christian presentations; be that Catholicism or Protestantism as they both stand today. Most "pew sitting" Christians are totally unaware that these difficulties exist within their Bibles and their "simple Christian literally interpreted Faith"; but they do! One's awareness of the Bibles inconsistences and contradictions are not meant to cause one to deny his faith in God or to cast away Christianity nor the Bible but accomplish just the reverse; in these contradictions the Spirit of God is sounding an "alarm" to your Spirit that once recognized is intended to "awaken" you out of your Spiritual slumber and move you from the "pew" to serious study of the Bible and the Divine Realm where one unlocks the secrets of God, the Christ, and one's True Nature and Being. Such an attitude of mind to seek more than the "milk of the Word" is often regarded by their friends and even Pastors as a want of "faith" and their personal inquiry and questioning of the Bible cause them to be repelled and alienated and categorized as "misfits", "trouble-makers", and "apostates". There are millions of such people today who, living in the Information Age, who find themselves looking beyond the "traditional Christian teachings" and "exoteric dogmas" of Christianity and in so doing see a deeper "esoteric" Spiritual Truth that lies just beneath the traditional inherited "literalized" and "historicized" texts and dogmas of the Christian Church. On making the discovery that most of the Bible is allegorical I began to apply the "keys" of the ancient Spiritual Wisdom to many of the Books and stories of the Bible and the reward of resolving these textual difficulties in the Bible when only viewed as if "literal" or "historical" immediately vanished and in so doing I was enlarged Spiritually, intellectually, and my life so immeasurably enriched that as a Pastor I felt moved to share them with others who like myself "were hungry" for more than the Church provides in this day of religious lethargy. Little does such a one who embarks upon such a study know what they will find as I; namely, an unbroken thread of Divine Spiritual Truth of the most highest nature which cannot ever be expressed or comprehended if limited to a "literal" and "historical" understanding or limited to but one person as Rome has done with the "Jesus Story" as we have received in from their hands.
The object of this website, the first of many for Bet Emet Ministries ("Bet Emet" means "House of Truth" in Hebrew) is to suggest certain lines of thought as to the deep truths underlying the "literal" interpretation of Christianity, truth generally overlooked, and only too often denied by those unlearned and unskilled in the study of the ancient Scriptures and their reproduction in the Christian Bible. There is a widespread, popular, idea that there is no such thing as a "secret" teaching in connection with Christianity, and that "The Mysteries", whether Lesser or Greater, were a purely Pagan institution. Nothing could be further from the Truth as the reader will soon come to see as his knowledge and study advances. The very name of "The Mysteries of Jesus", so familiar in the ears of the Chrestians/Christians of the first centuries, would come as shock of surprise to those who attend traditional Christian Churches today. It is necessary, therefore, to prove clearly than in the Earliest Church, at least, Christianity was no new "faith" or "religion" in possessing a hidden side, and that it guarded, as priceless treasures, the secrets revealed only to a select few in its Mysteries. The only thing "new" about Christianity after the 2nd through the 5th century was that the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom and Greater Mysteries of "the Christ" were lost to mankind and buried under the dogmatism of a "literal and historical only" interpretation of the Bible; itself the repetition of previous Sacred Scriptures treasured by the earliest nations and religions of mankind since the beginning of recorded time.
Religions have always been given to the world by men wiser than the masses of the people on whom they are bestowed, and are intended to quicken human evolution. In order to do this effectively they must reach individuals and influence them. Now all men are not at the same level of evolution, but such evolution is a rising gradient, with men stationed on this ladder of Spiritual evolution at its every point. The most highly evolved are far above the least evolved, both in intelligence and character; the capacity alike to understand and to act varies at every stage. It is, therefore, useless to give to all the same religious teachings. Yet all types of humanity need religion, so that each may reach upward to a life higher than that which he is leading. Religion must be graduated as evolution, else it fails in it object and purpose. Religion seeks to evolve the moral and intellectual natures of man, and to aid the Spiritual nature of mankind to unfold itself. Unknown to most Christians scholarly research has indisputably proved than the religions of the world are markedly similar in their main teachings since the beginning of time, in their possession of Founders who display superhuman powers and extraordinary moral elevation, in their ethical precepts, in their use of means to come into touch with invisible worlds, and in the symbols by which they express their leading religious and Spiritual beliefs. This similarity and common identity of the Founders proves according to Comparative Mythologists and Comparative Religionists that all religions, even Christianity, have a common origin that reaches back to the beginning of time and as far back as pre-ancient Egypt. The Early Church Fathers, like Augustine, knew this; it is we who don't today being lulled to sleep by a religion which has broken from the mold of the ancient Spiritual Wisdom and set itself maliciously above all ancient Spiritual Wisdoms and deemed itself and its "literal and historical" interpretation of their same ancient Wisdom texts as "literally infallible and inerrant". Again, nothing could be further from the truth as I would find upon serious study of my Bible and its parallels to the ancient Divine Spiritual Wisdom which has been with humanity since the beginning of recorded time as we see in Augustine's quote below.
That which is known as the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist; from the beginning of the human race until the time when Christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed began to be called Christianity. (Retractt. I, xiii, cited by Dr. Alvin Boyd Kuhn in his Shadow of The Third Century , Elizabeth N.J.: Academy Press, 1949, p.3).
Augustine is not alone in his testimony.
Eusebius, the great champion of Christianity, admits in his book: "that which is called the Christian religion is neither new nor strange, but-if it be lawful to testify the truth-was known to the ancients" (Hist. Eccl. lib. 2, ch. v.).
Eusebius says that "the names of Jesus and Christ were both known and honored by the ancients" (Hist. Eccl. lib. i. ch. iv).
Eusebius, in his Church History, tells us that Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho, says "there exists not a people, civilized or semi-civilized, who have not offered up prayers in the name of a crucified Savior to the Father and Creator of all things" (Hist. Eccl. lib i. ch. iv).
Ammonius Saccus, a Greek philosopher, founder of the Neoplatonic school, taught that "Christianity and Paganism when rightly understood, differ in no essential points, but had a common origin, and are really one and the same religion" (Taylor, Diegesis, p. 329).
These few quotes immediately brings to mind numerous questions concerning the "literal" and "historical" understanding of "the Jesus Story and the Christian Christ" let alone the Founder of Christianity, this Jesus of Nazareth which for almost 2,000 years has been denied as the Jewish Messiah for the entirely of Judaism to whom the Messiah was originally promised. This as well brings into question the unique understanding of the whole of Christianity’s religious dogmas and doctrines based upon this "literal and historical Jesus" of Christian history to which millions hold a "belief" that undergirds their understanding of Christianity's salvation message for mankind. Still ringing in our ears is the quote of Augustine as well the many others from a host of ancient writers who tell us that our "Jesus Story" is but the retelling of the "oldest story every told" which we find as far back at ancient Egypt some 10,000 years B.C.E. and even before. Once one sees the truth of such statements regarding the antiquity of our "Jesus Story" then to suppose only a "literal" and "historical" approach to such a story that is placed only in the first century strains believability to the breaking point. To approach such a story in our Bibles only with a "literal" and "historical" perspective guarantees we will not arrive at the Divine Spiritual Truths cloaked and veiled within it that the Creator intended we "awaken to" and obtain in our Earthly life. We grow up accepting without question this "literal" understanding and "historical" understanding of "the Christ" and "Jesus" never knowing that there is much more to know and learn than a supposed "literal" and "historical" understanding of these sacred texts in our Bibles. The "literal" and "historical" approach to our Bible is only the "start" of our Spiritual Enlightenment; not the goal! It can be likened to elementary school for the Spirit in man and is only the first step in our Soul's awakening to its True Being and incarnational purpose.
The ancients found it necessary to withhold certain teachings from those who, morally, are not yet unfitted to receive them as they confer upon the recipients not only the Truth about their Divine Nature but the celestial powers latent in mankind which accompany such an "awakening" of the Truth of one's True Self and Divine Mind. These same ancients refused to teach the ancient Spiritual Wisdom (esoteric dogmas and Greater Mysteries) to those unqualified and unpurifed men and veiled the ancient Spiritual Wisdom and Divine Truths behind the cover of myth, allegory, similes, and parables which the uninitiated and unlearned, not possessing the "keys" to correctly interpret these stories, accepted as if "literal" and "historical" accounts and events. Most of Christianity today can relate to this I am sure; I once could. These deeper Spiritual Mysteries and esoteric teachings that lie concealed under the "pseudo-history" and "literalism" of our Bibles deal with the constitution of man's True Nature, they explain hidden and hidden laws of the Cosmos that affect man, and throw light upon hidden processes, the knowledge of which gives man control over natural energies, and enables its possessor to direct these energies to certain ends; both good and unfortunately bad. Such knowledge is power unknown to humanity in its present state of evolution but as a New Age approaches, the Age of Aquarius, it is time that the "Christ without" be awakened in every child of God as "The True and Only Christ which is Within". With this "gnosis" and Divine knowledge restored to humanity and looking beyond a "literal" and "historical" understanding of the Bible mankind can once again embark upon his intended Spiritual evolution. No longer is he relegated to being a "spectator" but now become "the prime actor" in this Cosmic Drama called life and Spiritual evolution. This knowledge and "gnosis" is not possible by reading these Sacred Texts, Spiritual myths, allegories and mythologies which line the pages of our Bibles only in a "literal and historical manner"; the "literal and historical" interpretation being but a method of necessary interpretation of the ancient Spiritual Wisdom designed to veil and cover these higher Divine Truths from those unfit, unpurifed and not trustworthy to possess. But owing to the fact that this method of "literal" interpretation of these Sacred Divine Allegories is the way we had the ancient Sacred Wisdom explained and presented to us as we grew up in the Christian Church then it becomes our task in our first website to deal with the Bible and its "historical and literal" interpretation which Christianity promotes as the only way Scripture is to be understood let alone the "only way to God". It is in this "literal" way of reading and interpreting our Bibles that our beliefs in "Jesus" and "the Christ" are inherited, learned, and sustained by the vast majority of 2.5 billion Christians in the world today. One is shocked to find that this "literal" form of interpretation of the ancient Divine Wisdom and Sacred Scriptures of the nations, including Judaism and the Hebrew Scriptures, was considered the "milk" of the Word of God and not the "strong meat" which enriches, evolves, and Spiritually progresses the Soul of man. In other words the Bible is a book of pseudo-history at best and to approach these ancient Divine Sacred Myths in our Bibles as "literal" and "historical" stories only is tantamount to drinking "milk" and not eating "strong meat". It is only when a baby goes beyond the "literal" and "historical" understanding of the texts does he enter into the Higher Mysteries of the Bible concerning God, Christ, and man's true Nature and incarnational purpose. Let us not forget that the "literal" interpretation of the Bible is but one of the four ways the Rabbis taught that Divine Scriptures were to be understood. Each manner of interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures was a "step" to the next higher understanding of the Divine realm. This "literal" interpretation of the Scriptures is basically the "first grade" to the "believer" and when Spiritually ready he was to be taken under wing of learned and proven men and given the "Mysteries of the Kingdom of God within" which comes from higher interpretations of the Ancient Wisdom like Drash, Rhemez and Sod. This will become plain as we go on.
So we begin looking at and contrasting the "literal" understanding of the Christian revelation of "the Christ" and the "Jesus Story" given mankind as expressed in Christianity today and contrast it with the teachings and texts of Judaism that preceded it. In this way we can see who has the correct "truths" concerning the Messiah, "the Christ" and the truths concerning the evolution of mankind and his Soul. In this way we can see who has the more correct understanding of the salvation of man's Soul; Judaism or Christianity. In particular, and most importantly, we look to see if Christianity has even maintained the integrity of the "peshat" or the "literal" understanding of the ancient Spiritual dogmas handed down through time that passed down through ancient Spiritual history and culminated in Judaism in the first century. Our purpose here in our first website is to introduce the reader to the facts that Christianity and its Bible has taken even the "literal" and "peshat" understanding of the Divine Wisdom and "radically reinterpreted" it during the 2nd through the 5th centuries. This explains why Judaism and Christianity oppose each other on almost every doctrinal point shared in common between them. These facts will hopefully encourage the reader to study Judaism to reconnect with the legacy of the ancient Spiritual Truth which its yet maintains today.
For me to make such statements as above is one thing; for you to see this for yourself and prove our studies to yourself and seek the "narrow way" for your life and family is completely another. No one can force a belief upon another; no one has the right to attempt to do so. We at Bet Emet Ministries surely don't and this is not my intent. Not everyone is ready for what Bet Emet Ministries has to provide the Souls of mankind. But Truth is precious and everyone deserves the ability to hear it "when ready" and then make their personal choice as to accept or reject it. Only when we have made the appropriate intellectual inquiries and investigations for ourselves into such teachings presented on this website can we honestly decide whether to continue to accept or reject such "literal" interpretations of the various texts we read in our Bibles and have had taught to us most of our adult lives. However, you cannot bring your good judgment to bear upon anything in fullest measure until you have been fair in your efforts to understand such teachings from Bet Emet Ministries and then faithful in your attempts to test and verify personally what we have shown you in these articles. Let us be humbled by such studies and higher truths presented in the articles we read. So let us look at our Bibles and examine them through the microscope of scholarly study and let us both walk the same path of study as we examine our Bibles through Christianity's primary mode of interpretation of their Sacred texts; the "literal-historical" method of interpretation. Only in this way can we see for ourselves if truly the "literal-historical" manner of Biblical interpretation is the "way, the truth, and the life" and that "no man cometh unto the Father" but through them and the "literal" and "historical" Jesus revealed to us on the pages of our Bibles. Once finished with such studies on this website you will be able to take the next step in your Soul's Spiritual growth and evolution as you climb the ladder to Heaven. As your studies advance with Bet Emet Ministries you will move beyond the "literal" and "historical" interpretative approach to the Bible to enter into the deeper Spiritual Wisdom but first things first; we begin and focus now only with the "literal and historical" approach to Christianity, Christian dogma and teachings which has promised us Eternal Life.
Recover "The Faith Once Given To The Saints" Which Has Been Perverted By Gentile Christianity And Their "Literal" and "Historical" Interpretation of the Sacred Texts
In our CD of all out websites contained on one disk we provide a "study plan" for the student and give detailed instructions as how to study these websites "in order" to facilitate one's study. Please inquire for the CD for such through study will take you some time if you ever hope of cracking the "Jesus Puzzle" and coming to the answer of the question: "Who do men say I am?".